The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed new rules for Australia’s electricity market that would see solar panel households paying both to receive power from the grid when they needed it as well as paying to send excess power to the grid when they didn’t.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has warned that a balance would need to be found.
ARENA said the AEMC’s draft determination, National Electricity Amendment (Access, Pricing and Incentive Arrangements for Distributed Energy Resources) Rule 2021 , which was released last month would change the way distribution networks could recover costs associated with hosting solar and would allow them to implement two-way pricing.
“[The AEMC] has proposed changes they say will help to integrate more rooftop solar into the grid and address the emerging ‘traffic jam’ caused by rooftop solar uptake in certain areas,” ARENA said.
“The proposal would allow networks to implement ‘two-way’ pricing, offering payments to solar households for sending energy to the grid when it is needed, but also potentially charge to export at congested times,” it said.
“A large system earning more than $1,200 per year could be charged $100, while a small two to four kW system earning around $645 could pay about $30 per year.”
ARENA said the AEMC proposal didn’t mandate charges for exporting power.
The Agency said that to charge customers for exports, networks would need to consult extensively and have a transition plan approved by the Australian Energy Regulator.
“Their pricing proposal would only be approved if it was genuinely cost-reflective and in the overall interests of consumers,” it said.
Chief Executive of AEMC, Benn Barr said the Commission needed to make changes to the power system to allow more Australians to become small solar owners and avoid a first-come, best dressed system which would limit the capacity for additional solar into the grid.
Mr Barr said building more poles and wires was one option to deal with the increased solar traffic however, it was expensive and would increase all energy bills regardless of whether or not people had solar.
“While the sun may be free, the poles and wires aren’t,” Mr Barr said.
Chief Executive of ARENA, Darren Miller said broad consultation was needed to find a balance between the needs of solar owning households and consumers as a whole.
The AEMC’s 251-page draft rule determination can be accessed at this PS News link.
